The steps of establishing a conventional telephone call are well known. For contact centers receiving and answering an incoming telephone call, additional steps may be required after answering the call. This may involve ascertaining which group of agents are best suited to handle that incoming call and whether any agent within that group is available to accept the call. This determination may be made based on the dialed number. Frequently, different called telephone numbers may be allocated for different functions (e.g., customer service, billing, reservations, etc.). Thus, in contact centers, determining which agent the caller should be routed may occur after the call is answered. For example, upon receiving an incoming call, the call handler may answer the call and then determine if an appropriate agent is available. If an agent is available, then the call is routed to the agent. If an agent is not available, then the call may be connected to an announcement system, or an announcement may be otherwise be played to the caller, informing the caller that an agent will be available shortly.
This method of operation may result in performing the functions of answering the call and then determining how to route the call serially. Because automated call processing equipment is involved, there is little time delay between receiving the call, answering the call, and routing the call. Conventional wisdom is that answering the call as quickly as possible is desirable. Once the call is answered, this triggers billing by the carrier and establishes a bi-directional voice path between the calling party and the call handler. An agent may not be available to accept the call, and is so, the caller may hear music on hold or an announcement. However, this occurs after the call is answered and thus, billing is started before there is a need for the bi-directional voice path to allow communications with an agent. Accordingly, it is with respect to this and other considerations that the disclosure herein is presented.